ES2532224T3 - Self-sensing dispensing device - Google Patents

Abstract

Self-detecting device for cleaning solution or fabric softener solution comprising: a power supply means (4, 34), a liquid dispensing element (9, 39) comprising an actuator (11, 311) and a dispensing opening (10, 310) through which the liquid is dispensed by actuator activation, an electronic control means (6, 33) configured to control said actuator, a means (8, 18) for supplying liquids for connecting with a reservoir (1, 31) of liquids for supplying liquid from said reservoir to said liquid dispensing element, a valve means (7, 37, 47) to allow or prevent liquid from flowing from said reservoir to through said liquid supply means to said liquid dispensing element, wherein said electronic control means is configured to control said valve means and said actuator based on the reception of said order signal characterized in that said actuator is configured to execute at least one dispensing function and one detection function by itself, detecting the detection function at least external characteristics of the self-detecting dispensing device and causing said actuator to generate a signal of order, and said electronic control means is configured to analyze a time-frequency response of said order signal, allowing the result of said analysis to trigger said valve means.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Self-sensing dispensing device

The present invention relates to a self-sensing dispensing device, suitable for dispensing 5 liquid substances, such as by activating a flow or a droplet spray. Such a device normally contains a dispensing body in a support part, in particular, a spout or a nozzle body of a liquid droplet spraying device that dispenses a liquid substance from the device through the dispensing body. Such activation can be carried out by a valve means to allow a flow and / or by pumping or a pressurization means. Such activation can also be performed by a piezoelectric actuator used as a vibrating element to cause the liquid to vibrate so that it is accelerated and ejected. An additional typical device may consist of elements such as a space for liquids, a liquid feed and a fluid interface to a reservoir, a reservoir, as well as electrical connections between the vibrating element and a corresponding electronic circuit. The liquid is a fabric softener, or a cleaning solution. fifteen

Such dispensing bodies are sometimes referred to as spigots, opening plates, nozzle dies, dosing openings, orifice plates, vibrating membranes, atomizer, vibrating plate, dosing opening devices, aerosol generators and the like. Such expressions should therefore be understood as interchangeable throughout this document. twenty

In fact, such dispensing bodies and liquid dispensing devices are well known. For example, see EP 1 129 741 in the name of this applicant. This document describes a dispensing device for spraying liquid and has an upper substrate formed of a main body and a nozzle body. The nozzle body contains a die array of liquid droplet outlet means that allows a liquid substance contained in the droplet liquid spray device to exit the device, in this case as a droplet spray. A piezoelectric actuator is used to cause the liquid to undergo a vibration in order to generate the droplet spray.

In general, such a piezoelectric actuator is actuated in order to oscillate at or near an appropriate frequency 30 to improve energy efficiency.

EP 1 043 162 describes an ink jet apparatus having a liquid detection method using an infrared detector to determine whether or not the liquid has passed through a spray path. Control means are provided to adjust the spray itself. 35

US 2007/0216256 describes an excitation control circuit for an activated piezoelectric pump. By measuring the internal impedance of the piezoelectric actuator, it is possible to control the operating frequency.

 40

US2003 / 0146300 describes a nebulizer for nebulizing a substance and a reservoir having a dosing chamber arranged to feed a substance to be nebulized from the fogging device and a second chamber arranged to maintain and retain any excess of this substance. with respect to the volume maintained in the dosing chamber. The device allows to detect the expulsion of a dose unit. Four. Five

EP1681001 describes a self-sensing device according to the preamble of claim 1.

However, simplified and reliable controlled activation and deactivation of the actuator would be useful if the actuator 50 could operate on its own in order to also detect the dispensing conditions and control and / or monitor the liquid dispensing drive.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an innovative dispensing device that overcomes the drawbacks and limitations presented by prior art documents. 55

Therefore, the present invention relates to a dispensing device that, efficiently fulfilling these objectives, can be obtained in a relatively simple and economical manner, as defined in the appended claims. In addition, the device is capable of triggering and monitoring itself indirectly. 60

Thanks to the characteristics of the self-sensing dispensing device according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably control the operation of the liquid dispensing device, and this without the need for any independent sensor.

 65

Other features and advantages of the self-sensing dispensing device according to the present invention will become more apparent from the reading of the following description, which is offered only by way of non-limiting example which thus refers to the attached drawings. , in which:

Figure 1a shows a first example of a piezoelectric self-sensing dispensing device in a first embodiment according to the present invention used in a water flow detector of a shower apparatus,

Figure 1b shows a second example of a piezoelectric self-sensing dispensing device in the first embodiment,

Figure 1b1 shows an example of a priming system for a piezoelectric self-sensing dispensing device 10 in the first embodiment,

Figure 1c shows a third example of a piezoelectric self-sensing dispensing device in the first embodiment,

Figures 1d and 1e show examples of the signals used in a water flow detection in the first embodiment,

Figure 3a shows a first example of a piezoelectric self-sensing dispensing device in a second embodiment according to the present invention used in a liquid dispenser with a hand proximity detection,

Figure 3b shows a second example of an electromagnetic self-sensing dispensing device in the second embodiment, and

Figures 3c and 3d show examples of signals used in hand proximity detection in the second embodiment.

Next, an example of preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the figures. In general, the self-sensing dispensing device according to the present invention is used to control the operation of an actuator in a liquid dispensing device.

In the first embodiment, a piezoelectric self-sensing dispensing device is used as a water flow detector arranged near a shower head of a shower apparatus. Upon detecting a water flow, a cleaning, disinfection or aromatization formulation, or the like, can be dispensed from the piezoelectric self-sensing dispensing device. This can be done, for example, by means of a droplet spray, that is, in the case where the dispensing device is an atomizer or a liquid droplet spraying device.

Shower cleaning devices are known as such. For example, US 6,820,821 discloses an automated sprayer for spraying the walls of a bathroom and a shower cubicle with a cleaning product. The sprayer has a housing that can be mounted inside the shower cubicle. A tube extends downward along a longitudinal axis through which the cleaning product can pass. A motorized head disposed below the tube can be rotated around the axis to dose the cleaning product from the bottle and spray the cleaning product outwards. The sprayer includes a 40-motion sensor to prevent spraying if someone is present in the shower.

Obviously, such a device requires an independent sensor to allow the triggering of the desired operation (cleaning product spray) making the system more vulnerable and more expensive.

 Four. Five

Thanks to the characteristics of the present invention, an independent sensor can be avoided, since it is the piezoelectric actuator itself that functions as a sensor. Therefore, reliability can be improved, as there are fewer parts prone to malfunction.

A first example of the first embodiment is shown in Figure 1a, in which a tank 1 of pressurized cleaning product 50 is provided to contain a liquid. A ventilation hole 2 is advantageously provided with a hydrophobic membrane to guarantee the correct priming by means of an overpressure of the tank and also to guarantee the correct emptying of the tank.

Alternatively, as shown in Figure 1b1, instead of a hydrophobic membrane, a liquid feed duct 81 having a cutting section that acts as a vent hole 2 can be used to pressurize the liquid and to vent the tank and feed the liquid into an inlet channel 8. As shown in this figure, first, this liquid supply line 81 is now ready to be inserted into the tank (A). At this stage, the Pint pressure in tank 1 is equal to the Patm atmospheric pressure. It is then introduced into the tank (B), so that the internal pressure Pint becomes greater than the Patm. Finally it reaches the bottom 60 of the tank, so that the vent hole allows the release of air (C) so that Pint is equal to Patm again.

The tank 1 is placed in a housing 3 fitted in a shower apparatus having a shower head 13. The housing 3 also contains a battery 4 and an electronic control means 6 suitable for activating and deactivating a dispensing element, in this case a liquid spray head 9. The spray head 9 of

Liquids is mounted on a support, for example a wall 12 in the vicinity of shower head 13. The liquid spray head 9 comprises a piezoelectric actuator 11 and an opening plate or nozzle head 10 having one or more outlet nozzles through which the liquid cleaning solution is ejected as a droplet spray, from a Well known way for those skilled in the art. An inlet channel 8 is provided to supply liquid from the tank 1 to the spray head 9. The input channel 8 can be mounted on the support 12 by means of a clip 5. The access from the tank 1 to the spray head 9, through the input channel 8, can be controlled by a valve means, for example, an electrovalve 7, properly disposed between the tank and the spray head, and controlled by the electronic control means 6.

 10

As those skilled in the art will readily recognize, there may be one or more tanks and one or more liquids. The solenoid valve 7 can be a unidirectional or multidirectional valve. There may be one or more liquid spray heads. In addition, the tank arrangement and the liquid spray arrangement may be side by side on a surface instead of on different sides of a wall as shown in Figures 1a, 1b and 1c. fifteen

As such, any liquid supplied to the spray head 9 is vibrated by the piezoelectric actuator 11, so that the ultrasonic energy created in this way acts on the liquid in the spray head 9 to cause it to be ejected as a spray of droplets through the nozzle or nozzles 10, in a manner known to those skilled in the art. twenty

In fact, the piezoelectric actuator can be operated to execute at least one dispensing function and one detection function. The dispensing function can be triggered by an electronic control signal from the electronic control means 6 to vibrate the piezoelectric actuator, whereby the ultrasonic energy is transmitted to the liquid in order to allow its vibration, resulting in this mode 25 the dispensing of the liquid from said dispensing element through the nozzle or nozzles 10. The detection function is used to detect at least features external to the dispensing device and results in a disturbance of the piezoelectric actuator. This disturbance generates an electronic signal, which can be detected by the electronic control means 6 and, therefore, can constitute an order signal of the electronic control means 6 to control the valve means 7 and the spray head 9. 30

As can be understood from the foregoing, according to the present invention, the piezoelectric actuator 11 not only allows the liquid to be dispensed, but also allows to control when, how and what liquid (when more than one tank is used) should be dispensed. In fact, using the piezoelectricity principle not only to convert electricity into mechanical movement, but also to convert mechanical disturbances of new to electricity, piezoelectric actuator 11 can be used to detect external characteristics, in this case the water flow of the shower, water flow which, as such, creates combined sonic and ultrasonic pressure waves in the vicinity of the shower apparatus, which causes a disturbance that can be captured by the piezoelectric actuator 11, thereby allowing to detect the flow of Water. By proper analysis of the electrical signals resulting from the pressure waves of the water flow through the electronic medium 6, it is possible to determine when the water flow starts and stops. It is also possible to control then, once it is detected that the flow of water has started, the solenoid valve 7, so that the liquid can be provided from the tank 1 to the spray head 9 and, therefore, expelled by the self-sensing actuator 11. This control can be carried out by electronic control means 6, triggered by the self-sensing piezoelectric actuator 11. Therefore, a shower apparatus that has a water flow detector such as this can then automatically trigger the release of a cleaning, aromatizing or disinfecting substance.

The analysis of the electrical signals resulting from the pressure waves generated by the water flow will be explained in more detail with respect to Figures 1c and 1d. As can be seen in Fig. 1c, the start and stop of the water flow 50 can be easily detected, since the pressure waves detected by the piezoelectric actuator 11 increase sharply when the water flow starts and decrease rapidly when the water stops. water flow. Using this signal, it is possible to apply an additional threshold detection to the previous analysis, as shown for example in Figure 1d, above which a water flow is considered to be in progress. Therefore, the start and stop of a water flow can be easily detected by the spray head 9 of self-detection.

The piezo-generated electrical signal is subjected to adequate filtering in order to reliably isolate the signal caused by the flow of water from anything else captured (i.e. background noise).

 60

Of course, those skilled in the art can easily conceive other applications, for example in the case of 2 different tanks and 2 liquids, for example a flavoring liquid and a disinfectant liquid, the self-sensing spray head 9 and the means 6 of Electronic control may be arranged to allow the spraying of the flavoring liquid during the shower process and the disinfectant liquid some predetermined time after the shower process. It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that applications may not be limited to showers, but there may be others that use the same principle of self-detection, including

applications in household appliances, such as clothes dryers, vacuum cleaners, cleaning robots and the like.

A second example of the first embodiment is shown in Figure 1b, in which an arrangement is shown that is quite similar to that of the first example. Reference is made to the same elements with the same reference numbers. In this second example, the housing 3 is arranged above the tank 1 and, therefore, the inlet channel 8 extends into the tank to allow the liquid solution to be drawn towards the spray head 9. As can be understood from this configuration shown, in comparison with the inverted configuration of the first example, the configuration of the second example prevents possible leakage of residual liquid after removing the tank 1. 10

A third example of the first embodiment is shown in Figure 1c, in which an arrangement quite similar to that of the second example is shown. Reference is made to the same elements with the same reference numbers. Therefore, in this third example, the housing 3 is also arranged above the tank 1. In this case, the inlet channel is formed of two parts, a first part 7 ', which in this example is a wick 15 contained in the tank 1, and a second part 8 ', which can also be a wick, or it can be a capillary channel for transporting the liquid provided from the tank 1 by means of the wick 7' to the spray head 9. This example does not use a solenoid valve, so that the transfer of liquid from the tank 1 to the spray head 9 is done by capillarity.

 twenty

In order to prevent leakage due to the absence of a valve means, the spray head 9 is positioned such that the hydrostatic pressure in the spray head 9 is greater than the hydrostatic pressure in the tank 1.

As can be understood from the foregoing, in all examples of this first embodiment, any release of liquid from the tank 1 and, therefore, from the dispensing device is controlled by signals provided by the piezoelectric self-sensing actuator.

Figure 3a shows a first example of a self-sensing piezoelectric dispensing device in a second embodiment according to the present invention used in a liquid dispenser. 30

In this embodiment, the piezoelectric actuator 311 is also used as a proximity sensor, thereby allowing control of the release of the substance to be dispensed.

The dispensing device is again quite similar to that of the first embodiment. Therefore, a housing 32 is provided comprising a reservoir 31 for containing the liquid to be dispensed. A battery 34 and an electronic control means 33 for controlling the release of liquid are also provided, by means of signals sent by the piezoelectric actuator, similar to the operation in the embodiments described above.

Therefore, also in this case, any release of liquid from the reservoir 31 and, therefore, from the dispensing device is controlled by signals provided by the piezoelectric actuator 311.

In fact, as can be seen from Figure 3a, the inlet means are again provided to provide a fluid connection between the reservoir 31 and a dispensing element, in this case the dispensing head 39, by means of a means Valve such as a solenoid valve 37. The dispensing head 39 comprises a dispensing opening 310, for example a spout, having one or more nozzles through which the liquid is dispensed. A piezoelectric actuator 311 is also provided in the dispensing head to allow control of the solenoid valve 37, by detecting the proximity of one hand and, therefore, of the release of liquid from the reservoir, and ultimately from The dispensing device.

 fifty

In this embodiment, and in fact in all other embodiments as well, the dispenser can be arranged to emit an appropriate electrical signal to detect the reflection thereof, by means of the analysis of the return signal. As such, any movement, object or presence below the actuator can be detected. Such analysis of a return signal is well known as such by those skilled in the art.

 55

Figures 3c and 3d show examples of signals used in a hand proximity detection in the second example of the second embodiment.

As can be seen, proximity and lack of proximity can be easily detected by an appropriate time-frequency analysis of the signals shown in Figure 3c and Figure 3d. 60

As can be understood from the description of the three previous embodiments, an intelligent dispensing device can be obtained using a self-sensing dispenser.

The drive can be triggered by a sound pressure wave, noise, presence detection or by motion detection.

The additional advantages of the self-sensing dispensing device according to the present invention relate to the fact that the detection and dispensing actions are performed by the same component. In conventional devices, a dispensing device could continue dispensing even when the independent sensor has failed, which leads to wasting the dispensed liquid.

 5

Obviously, a cheaper device can also be obtained, since it is not necessary to provide, connect or calibrate an independent sensor.

In addition, the dispensing device according to the present invention may be provided with a self-learning technology. For example, the electronic control means may be provided with a memory to store the detection results and to allow a self-calibration, by comparison with the previously stored detection results. For example, the electronic control means can analyze the envelope of the order signal generated by the actuator by comparing it with previously stored signals, allowing the result of this comparison to trigger the actuating means.

 fifteen

Furthermore, the present piezoelectric self-detecting dispenser can even detect obstructions, since this leads to the modification of the electromechanical characteristic of the piezoelectric self-sensing dispenser.

In addition, a vacuum detection in the dispenser can thus be performed, whereby the piezoelectric actuator can be stopped. twenty

Now, once the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other embodiments that incorporate their concept may be used. It is considered, therefore, that the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but rather should only be limited by the scope of the appended claims. 25

Claims (10)

1. Self-sensing dispensing device for cleaning solution or fabric softener comprising: a means (4, 34) of power supply, 5 a liquid dispensing element (9, 39) comprising an actuator (11, 311) and a dispensing opening (10, 310) through which the liquid is dispensed by actuator activation, an electronic control means (6, 33) configured to control said actuator, a means (8, 18) for supplying liquids to connect with a reservoir (1, 31) of liquids for supplying liquid from said reservoir to said liquid dispensing element, 10 a valve means (7, 37, 47) to allow or prevent liquid from flowing from said reservoir through said liquid supply means to said liquid dispensing element, wherein said electronic control means is configured to control said valve means and said actuator based on the reception of said command signal characterized by 15 said actuator is configured to execute at least one dispensing function and one detection function by itself, detecting the detection function at least features external to the self-detecting dispensing device and causing said actuator to generate an order signal, and said means The electronic control is configured to analyze a time-frequency response of said command signal, allowing the result of said analysis to trigger said valve means. twenty 2. Self-sensing dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein said electronic control means can be operated to open and / or close said valve means based on said command signal. 3. Self-sensing dispensing device according to claim 2, wherein said electronic control means 25 can be operated to turn said self-sensing dispensing device on and off based on said command signal. 4. Self-sensing dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein said electronic control means comprises a memory means for storing the results of said analysis for the purpose of self-learning. 5. Self-sensing dispensing device according to any of the preceding claims wherein said actuator is a piezoelectric actuator.  35 6. Self-sensing dispensing device according to any of the preceding claims wherein said actuator is an electromagnetic actuator. 7. Shower apparatus comprising:  40 a shower head (13), and a water flow detector, said water flow detector consisting of a self-sensing dispensing device as defined in claim 6. 8. Cleaning solution or fabric softener dispenser comprising: 45 a self-sensing dispensing device as defined in claim 6, said dispensing element having at least one outlet for dispensing said liquid as a flow, and said electronic control means and said piezoelectric actuator being arranged to detect the presence or movement of an object in the vicinity of said piezoelectric actuator. fifty 9. Cleaning solution or fabric softener dispenser comprising: a self-sensing dispensing device as defined in claim 7, said dispensing element having at least one outlet for dispensing said liquid as a flow, and said electronic control means and said electromagnetic actuator being arranged to detect the presence or movement of an object in the vicinity of said electromagnetic actuator. 10. Home appliance comprising a self-sensing dispensing device as defined in claim 6. 60